Raymond Allen Davis incident

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On January 27, 2011 a US citizen claiming to be working as a consultant at the U.S. Consulate in Lahore and later said to be a CIA operative killed two armed men in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The identification papers he submitted to the Pakistani police are in the name of Raymond Allen Davis, although initially it was categorically stated by the US State Department that this name was not correct. He is now facing two separate criminal charges, one of double murder and the second of illegal possession of a firearm. Two petitions seeking prosecution against him on charges of forgery for obtaining a visa under a fake name have also been registered with the Lahore High Court.

Logo of the Central Intelligence Agency ; a large bureaucracy with many branches; these divisions do not necessarily reflect an operational separation of CIA activities (WP)

The incident led to a diplomatic furor and deterioration in the ties between Pakistan and USA. The US government claimed that Davis is protected by diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Conventions and has demanded that he be released from custody immediately. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that according to official records and experts in the Foreign Office, Davis is "not a diplomat and cannot be given blanket diplomatic immunity". It has been suggested that Qureshi's stand on the issue led to his sacking by the government. The incident also led to widespread protests in Pakistan demanding action against Davis.

US president Barack Obama asked Pakistan not to prosecute Davis and treat him like a diplomat and said “There’s a broader principle at stake that I think we have to uphold.” The Pakistani Foreign Office stated that “this matter is sub judice in a court of law and the legal process should be respected.”

The American focus has been on the claimed diplomatic status. Pakistani media and officials dispute the claim of immunity from a murder charge, allege that Davis was involved in clandestine operations and question the scope of Davis' activities in Pakistan.

Almost a month after the incident, U.S. officials admitted Davis was a contract employee of the CIA after this was reported in The Guardian. Davis has also been shown to be an erstwhile employee of security outfit Blackwater Worldwide (presently called Xe) and was a member of CIA's Global Response Staff, who assist case officers when they meet with sources. His two victims are also reported to be operatives of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). An ISI official has made a statement saying that Davis had contacts in the tribal regions along the Afghanistan border and already knew both the men he shot. He said the ISI is investigating the possibility that the encounter on the streets of Lahore stemmed from a meeting or from threats to Davis.

It has been suggested that while Davis may be a contractor for the CIA, he could also be something else: a still active-duty member of US Special Forces. One of the items found on him by arresting police was an ID card identifying him as a DOD (Department of Defence) contractor. "It could be the US government has decided now to fall back to claiming he's CIA, which would probably at least spare him a hanging, even if it leaves him with a long jail sentence in a Lahore prison.

Davis was working within areas of espionage covered by multiple departments of the CIA: wetworks (SAD), black propaganda (Political Action Group), and military reconnaissance, which is not even a department of the CIA, despite the fact that there has been a CIA operative on the ground before every single US invasion. It most closely resembles army Special Forces activity. Therefore it is apparent that the bureaucratic divisions of the CIA do not necessarily reflect a separation of operations carried out by the CIA (WP) into operatives under each division's authorization carrying out operations specific to that division.

Logo of Xe Watch, representing opposition to Blackwater International. Blackwater became Xe Services in October 2007

Incident

Davis has said in his written statement that the incident happened when he was coming from the Embassy. The police report states that the GPS record shows he actually was coming from his private residence at Scotch Corner, Upper Mall. Davis stated that after withdrawing cash from a bank cash machine, he was driving alone in his white Honda Civic and had stopped at a traffic light near Qurtaba Chowk in the Mozang Chungi area of Lahore when two men pulled alongside him on a motorbike. After one of the young men allegedly brandished a pistol at him, Davis opened fire and killed both of them with his own 9mm Glock pistol. Davis claimed to the police his actions were in self-defence. The police have stated no eyewitness have supported Davis' claim that any of the deceased men pulled a pistol on him. Police reported that "Faheem's gun contained no bullet in the chamber – meaning it could not have been cocked." “When Davis fired at Faizan and Faheem, they were sitting on their bike in front of his car with their backs towards Davis, which meant that they were not in an attacking position and the claim of self-defence is false”. Davis' weapon was not licensed. The two men on the motorcycle were parked at the light in front of Davis' car. Davis shot them through his windshield. After the shooting, Davis is alleged to have exited his car to take pictures and videos of his victims with his cell phone. Faizan Haider was still alive at the time. He later died in hospital. Another version of events is that Davis shot five rounds through his windshield, got out of his vehicle and shot four more rounds into the two men as they lay on the pavement. The Police report says that witnesses saw Davis fire at Faizan Haider at a time when he left the motorcycle and ran to save his life. Davis himself also admitted that he fired at Faizan from the back when he was running.

Davis then radioed for backup whereupon four American men in a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado with fake registration plates, attempted unsuccessfully to reach the scene. The driver of the Prado jumped the median on Jail Road, travelled against the oncoming traffic and ran over and killed a motorcyclist later identified as Ebadur Rehman. Without stopping, the vehicle fled the scene and rushed to the consulate, jettisoning items outside Faletti's Hotel. Police say they included four magazines containing 100 bullets, various battery cells, a baton, scissors, a pair of gloves, a compass with knife, a black coloured mask/blindfold, and a piece of cloth bearing the American flag.

Davis attempted to escape the scene of the shooting in his vehicle but was apprehended by two traffic wardens at Old Anarkali Food Street in Anarkali Bazaar, where he was handed over to police. Footage of him attempting to drive through the gathered crowd and escape has been shown on Pakistani television. People gathered at the scene later blocked the roads and burnt tires in protest of the incident. Later, the demonstrations moved to the police station where Davis' car had been impounded.

According to news sources, items recovered from Davis' car included GPS chips that according to Pakistani investigators were being used in identifying targets for drone attacks in the tribal region along the Afghan border, a Glock handgun, a flashlight that attaches to a headband, a pocket telescope, a large number of cellphones, including at least one satellite phone, a collection of batteries, buckets of bullets, both for the Glock and a Beretta allegedly used by Davis to kill the two motorcyclists, and a quantity of M-16 shells. Police report that the bullets were high-powered killer projectiles not allowed in many countries. There were military-grade knives, wires, and a surprising array of high-capacity magazines for the handguns. Also found was a camera loaded with pictures of dozens of madrassas (religious schools) and other buildings around Lahore. Pakistani media have also reported, that Davis also carried multiple ATM and military ID cards and what was described as a facial disguise or makeup. The Pakistani official said Davis also carried identification cards from the U.S. consulates in Lahore and Peshawar but not from the embassy in Islamabad.

Victims

The three victims are identified as Faizan Haider (aged 22 years) and Faheem Shamshad (a.k.a. Muhammad Faheem aged 26 years) who were both shot, and Ibad-ur-Rehman (who was married two months ago) who was run over. One of the victims that was shot died on the spot and the other succumbed to injuries at Services Hospital, Lahore. The motorcyclist that was run over by the American-driven vehicle, identified alternatively as Ubaidur, Abdur or Ibad-ur Rehman, was also rushed to the same hospital in a critical condition, but could not survive due to excessive bleeding.

Police confirmed that the two men that were shot by Davis, were carrying sidearms but that no shots were fired from these weapons. It is disputed whether the firearms were licenced or not. A senior police officer has said that Haider had a criminal record and was previously involved in dacoity. But neighbours, friends and family of the young men deny any criminal records or illegal activity. The two victims were reported to have been carrying two cellphones they had allegedly stolen earlier in the day, three other cellphones, a Rolex-style watch, and four different types of currency.

The police officer in charge of the investigation, Zulfiqar Hameed, was initially reported as having said that eyewitness testimony suggested that they were trying to rob Davis. But later press statements from the Lahore Police Chief, Aslam Tareen explain that Police rejected Davis' plea of self-defence precisely because of eye witness statements. Police Chief Tareen, describing the shooting as "a clear-cut murder," explained that the self-defence plea "had been considered but the eyewitnesses, the other witnesses and the forensic reports, ...showed that it was not a case of self-defence."

After the incident multiple Pakistani officials told ABC News that both the victims were working for Inter-Services Intelligence and were following Davis because he was spying and had crossed a "red line". This was initially denied by US officials. The Express Tribune also reported that the two dead motorcyclists were intelligence operatives quoting a Pakistani security official who requested not to be identified since he was not authorized to speak to the media. Pakistani officials alleged that Davis had travelled to Waziristan and met with some people without the approval of ISI and therefore was being followed in an attempt to intimidate him. Davis alleged that the victims were trying to rob him but the police delayed registering cases against Haider and Shamshad. On February 6th Shamshad's widow, Shumaila Kanwal, committed suicide after taking poisonous pills, fearing that Davis would be released without trial, police and doctors said.

The third third man was later killed "in a hit and run" when a car driven by Americans, reportedly sped down the wrong side of the road on its way to aid the American shooter. Questions concerning the third victim, whether the vehicle that killed him was driven by a consul official, whether the consul is claiming diplomatic immunity from civil suits in relation to manslaughter caused by a road traffic accident have attracted little media attention. CCTV footage of the damaged vehicle after its fatal collision with Mr. Rehman have been shown on Pakistani televison.

The US vehicle that killed motorcyclist Rehman carried fake number plates. Investigations have revealed that the car number was actually registered in the name of Sufi Munawwar Hussain, a resident of Sahiwal district in Punjab province. Pakistani officials believe the vehicle's occupants were also CIA because they came from the same suburban house where Davis lived and were heavily armed. The US refused Pakistani demands to interrogate the two men and the men have left the country. ABC News reported that the men had the same diplomatic visa as Davis. Reportedly, the driver and occupants of this vehicle were secretly transported to Afghanistan by road and from there were flown to the US. Regarding the legal status of those involved, it has been suggested that the driver and occupants of the SUV are now runaway offenders and that Carmela Conroy, Consul General in Lahore comes under the felony of harbouring the accused, refusing to hand them over to police and then facilitating their escape.

Diplomatic status

The US government claims that Davis is a diplomat and should not have been arrested or be prosecuted under Pakistani law because he has diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The Convention lists cases not covered by immunity in article 31.1.. The Punjab authorities (the province in which Davis was arrested) claim that Davis was not on a diplomatic visa but on an official business visa. The US and Pakistani governments do not agree as to Davis' legal status in Pakistan at the time of his arrest.

According to US officials even though senior Pakistani officials believe in private that Davis has diplomatic immunity the government appears to be unwilling or unable to enforce the protocol. A senior Pakistani official, Information Secretary of the PPP Fauzia Wahab was forced to resign her post after she made statements saying she believed Davis did have diplomatic immunity. Her comments were swifty dismissed as personal views by a presidential spokesman and a contempt of court petition has been filed against her in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

In two articles appearing in a Pakistani newspaper called The Express Tribune, the precise status of Davis's and the American Government's claim of immunity has been examined by Najmuddin Shaikh, a former Pakistani diplomat. He wrote that the question of diplomatic immunity depends on whether Davis was on the staff of the 'consulate' or the 'embassy' as the privileges and immunities of each are very different. If Davis was on the staff of the 'embassy' Shaik points out that the question of immunity would depend upon whether Davis was in Mozang Chowrangi in the ‘course of his duties’ and who should decide that. Article 37 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides that Embassy administrative and technical staff are subject to the civil and administrative jurisdiction of the receiving state, but enjoy the unlimited immunity from criminal jurisdiction provided by Article 31. Regarding the law concerning if Davis was on the 'consular' staff, a practising lawyer in Islamabad, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, quoting the Vienna Convention of 1963 wrote in The News International: “one needs to read Article 41 (1) which says: Consular officers shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime and pursuant to a decision by the competent judicial authority. Now having read the law, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that if a member of US Consulate in Lahore kills someone, he is answerable to a court of law in that jurisdiction, as there is no other crime more heinous or more grave than murder." Pakistani investigators have determined that Davis did not shoot the two men acting in self-defence and the police are recommending he face a charge of double murder.

Writing for CounterPunch, the journalist Dave Lindorff has written "in other words, the prosecutorial, police and judicial authorities in Lahore and the state of Punjab are doing exactly what they are supposed to do in holding Davis on murder charges, pending a judicial determination concerning whether or not he can properly claim diplomatic immunity. The US claim that Pakistan is violating the convention is simply nonsense."

Davis in the mobile phone video of his interrogation did not claim that he had a diplomatic rank, but rather that he was "doing consulting work for the consular general, who is based at the US consulate in Lahore." In the video, Davis is heard and seen showing several ID badges around his neck, and states that one is from Islamabad, and one is from Lahore. He then adds, "I work as a consultant there".

According to USA Today "U.S. officials in Islamabad will say only that he was an American Embassy employee who was considered part of the 'administrative and technical staff'."

This contradicts Philip Crowley's earlier statement and Davis' own initial statement to the police that Davis "was an employee at the U.S. Consulate".

Ejaz Haider pointed to this difference, writing, "This has now been changed to this man being an employee of the US embassy. Why? Because, and this is important, there are two different Vienna Conventions, one on diplomatic relations (1961) and the other on consular relations (1963)."

Davis was not one of the embassy employees listed on January 25, 2010, two days before the incident However, a revised list submitted a day after the incident on Jan 28 carried his name. Pakistani officials believe that his name was missing from the Jan 25 list because at that time he was assigned to the consulate general. It has been assumed that he was put on the list given subsequently so that he could benefit from Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 instead of 1963 Convention on Consular Relations that have a narrower scope in terms of immunity.

A former British diplomat has listed the five circumstances in which the American killer caught in Pakistan, might have diplomatic immunity. They are these.

1) He was notified in writing to the government of Pakistan as a member of diplomatic staff of a US diplomatic mission in Pakistan, and the government of Pakistan had accepted him as such in writing.

2) He was part of an official delegation engaged in diplomatic negotiations notified to the government of Pakistan and accepted by them.

3) He was a member of staff of an international organisation recognised by Pakistan and was resident in Pakistan as a member of diplomatic staff working for that organisation, or was in Pakistan undertaking work for that organisation with the knowledge and approval of the Pakistani authorities.

4) He was an accredited diplomat elsewhere and was in direct transit through Pakistan to his diplomatic posting.

5) He was an accredited courier carrying US diplomatic dispatches in transit through Pakistan.

The former diplomat went on to write that information from senior Pakistani ex-military sources is firmly that the necessary diplomatic exchange of notes does not exist that would make Davis an accredited US diplomat in Pakistan, but that the US State Department is putting huge pressure on the government of Pakistan to overlook that fact: "if the documents did exist Clinton would have waved them at us by now."

However, the U.S. Department of State maintains that the formal notification provided to the Pakistani government on January 27, 2010 that Mr. Davis was a member of the Embassy's administrative and technical staff was sufficient to convey immunity and there is no requirement under international law that the Pakistani government provide any acknowledgement or acceptance of the same.

CIA-Al-Qaeda Link

File:Republican Palace, Baghdad.jpg

6 December 2007: Blackwater employees as US State Department security in the Republican Palace, American Embassy Annex, International (Green) Zone, central Baghdad, Iraq

On February 20th a Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report has referred to Pakistan's ISI stating that top-secret CIA documents found in Davis's possession point to him and/or TF373 (Task Force 373) providing al Qaeda terrorists with "nuclear fissile material" and "biological agents". According to the report, the combat skills exhibited by Davis, along with documentation taken from him after his arrest, prove that he is a member of US TF373 black operations unit currently operating in the Afghan War Theatre and Pakistan's tribal areas.

False name implications

Official testimony by Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State, on January 27th stated that the person involved in the Lahore “incident” was not named Raymond Davis. Crowley, in two Department of State briefings to the press, categorically stated that the 'Davis' name was "incorrect".

"Let me say three things: first, I can confirm that an employee at the US consulate in Lahore was involved in an incident today. It is under investigation. We have not released the identity of our employee at this point, and reports of a particular identity that are circulating through the media are incorrect. The name is wrong. The name that's out there is wrong. Including that one, yes. Not correct."

It was not until February 11th, fifteen days after the incident, that the US embassy in Pakistan first referred to the arrested US citizen as "Raymond Davis" in its Press Release. It originally referred to him only as "a staff member of the U.S. Consulate General" and then falsely referred to him as "a U.S. diplomat" in three further official press releases.

On the basis of Crowley's statement Najmuddin Shaikh, (former Pakistani Ambassador to the US) has argued that a person having made a false visa application, holding a passport in a false name and having entered the country illegally, will have a visa that was never valid and therefore cannot claim diplomatic immunity by these means. Further, a local barrister Iqbal Jafree has submitted to the Lahore High Court that the accused obtained a fake diplomatic visa with a false name and that no immunity obtained fraudulently is valid.

An American lawyer/civil rights activist has written: "Curiously, I have never seen this vital fact, which destroys all claim by the US to Davis’s diplomatic status, mentioned in any US or British news report."

Davis' background

On February 9, an article on the website of WCYB in Bristol, Virginia stated that he graduated from Powell Valley High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia in 1993. The alumni page of the high school includes a Raymond Davis who graduated in that year. Davis reportedly has previous US Special Forces experience, having spent 10 years in the military, beginning with basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1993, a six month period of service with the United Nations Peacekeeping forces in Macedonia, then time with the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, and leaving the military in 2003. He runs Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC based in Orlando, Florida, a company that specializes in providing "loss and risk management professionals". Counterpunch reports that it has found that the claimed Orlando address of Hyperion Protective Services has never been leased out to a company of that name and that no such company is licensed in Florida. According to at least one article, Hyperion is based in Nevada. He has also been identified as a former Blackwater Worldwide contractor.

On February, 2, 2011, about a week after the shooting, an article appeared in the Denver Post saying that Raymond Davis lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and had previously lived in Las Vegas, Lexington (Kentucky), Vail (Arizona), and Fort Bragg (North Carolina).

Davis' activities in Pakistan

It is alleged that following his arrest, the police recovered photographs of sensitive areas and defence installations from Davis' camera, among which included snapshots of the Bala Hisar Fort, the headquarters of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Peshawar and of Pakistan Army’s bunkers on the Eastern border with India. The Government of Punjab considered Davis a security risk after the recovery of the photos. Prosecutors also suggested that Davis be charged with espionage.

It has been reported that CIA drone attacks in Waziristan, which had been occurring at the average rate of two to three per week since 2008, stopped after Raymond Davis was arrested. There were no reported drone attacks from January 23, four days before the Raymond Davis incident, until 21st February. Some articles speculate as to possible relation between the arrest and the cessation of the attacks.

Pakistani authorities have leaked to the media that they knew Davis was in touch with the "Pakistani Taliban"(TTP). A police officer confirmed that "his phone records clearly show he was in contact with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, for what reason we can only speculate," referring to a militant group with close links to the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistani news report have said that Davis was second-in-command to Jonathan Banks, the former station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Islamabad, who left Pakistan after his cover was blown. The sources said that Davis could be called the deputy station chief of the CIA in Pakistan, or the acting station chief. They said that after Banks left the federal capital, Davis assumed the charge of his office by carrying out all the tasks previously under the domain of his boss, including gathering information for drone attacks. The sources said that one of the main tasks of Davis was to keep the CIA network intact in the tribal agencies as well as the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Aftermath

The Government of Pakistan is under extreme pressure from the United States to release Raymond Davis. News reports indicate that the Pakistani Embassy in Washington was cut off from all communications with the United States Department of State over this issue. Diplomatic notes were sent by the US Government to Pakistan's Foreign Office urging it to grant diplomatic Immunity to Mr Davis. A delegation of the United States House Committee on Armed Services conveyed a veiled threat that Pakistan-US defense cooperation could be under cloud if the standoff persisted on the issue of immunity for Raymond Davis.

In another incident, an ABC News report alleged that the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. Husain Haqqani received threats from the US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon of being removed if action was not taken on the Davis case. Haqqani however categorically denied the allegation. According to the same report, Donilon also warned of US consulates closing down in Pakistan and an upcoming visit by President Zardari to Washington being rejected.

According to news, blood money is being considered an option to get Davis a pardon. On February 1, 2011, a petition brought by Pakistani lawyer Saeed Zafar was ruled upon by Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry where an order was issued to put Davis' name on Pakistan's Exit Control List in order to restrain him from being handed over to US authorities.

The News International reports that top Pakistani Foreign Office officials allege that Pakistan's President, Asif Ali Zardari asked the Foreign Office in categorical terms that Davis should be given diplomatic immunity and for this purpose, the Foreign Office should immediately issue a backdated letter notifying Davis as ‘member of staff member of the US embassy, in Islamabad. Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi refused, saying

"On the basis of the official record and the advice given to me by the technocrats and experts of the Foreign Office, I could not certify him (Raymond Davis) as a diplomat. The kind of by blanket immunity Washington is pressing for Davis, is not endorsed by the official record of the Foreign Ministry,"

Qureshi reiterated this stance after a meeting with Chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry on the 16th Feb. Qureshi said he kept quiet on the Davis case earlier upon instructions from the leadership of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), but implied that his stance on the matter had cost him his job. As of the 16th February a new foreign minister has not yet been appointed.

Imran Khan, a former cricketer and the founder and chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice, a small opposition party), said, "The people don't trust the government any more. It has time and again proven that it lies to its public," and he has said he believes that it is only proper that Davis be tried before local courts, so that Islamabad's role, if any, also be brought to light. Khan also believes that if Davis is simply handed over to Washington, "no one will accept the [immunity] verdict and it will lead to anti-Americanism and increase extremism in Pakistan."

In a statement, the Pakistani Taliban warned the government against releasing Davis. A spokesman for the Taliban said “If (Pakistani) rulers hand him over to America then we will target these rulers. If Pakistani courts cannot punish Davis then they should hand him over to us.”

The Guardian reported U.S. censorship of U.S. media in that "A number of US media outlets learned about Davis's CIA role but have kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration." Colorado station KUSA censored an online report indicating Davis worked for the CIA when the station "removed the CIA reference from its website at the request of the US government."

Continuing developments

On February 7th, Shumaila Kanwal, the widow of Muhammad Faheem who was shot dead by Davis, commited suicide.

On February 8, Barrister Iqbal Jafree filed a petition to the Lahore High Court claiming Raymond Davis is not the real name of the accused, and that the accused should be tried for forgery. The petition also asserts that a forged passport cannot be the basis for immunity from prosecution.

On February 12th Philip J. Crowley the US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs announced that trilateral meetings between US, Afghan and Pakistani officials to be held on February 23 and 24 were postponed due to political changes in Pakistan.

On February 14th, it was reported that a Pakistani federal minister close to President Asif Ali Zardari told a journalist “We are not in a position to oblige the US because this matter is now sub judice and the Lahore High Court has included the name of Raymond Davis in the Exit Control List. If we do anything in violation of the court orders, then the court will summon us for contempt and we are sure that the people of Pakistan will come out on the roads against us and our fate will be worse than Hosni Mubarak.”

On February 15th Senator John Kerry arrived in Pakistan in an effort to secure release of Davis. He was expected to use his personal contacts in Pakistan to get this done.

On February 16th a writ petition was filed in the Lahore High Court by Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique requesting a judicial inquiry into the alleged tampering, manipulation and forgery of the record of immunity maintained by the ministry oncerning the Davis case. Previously the Lahore High Court had demanded clarification from the federal and the provincial governments regarding the unverified visa of Raymond Davis. Barrister Iqbal Jaffery mentioned twice that the visa of Raymond Davis was unverified and a case has been registered against the officials of the Pakistan Embassy for negligence.

On February 16th DawnNews released an image of a US government pay stub document which appears to show that Raymond Davis is not a member of the diplomatic or consular staff but is a permanent employee of the US Overseas Protective Security Services.

On February 17th a Pakistani court delayed a decision on whether Davis has diplomatic immunity until the 14th of March. "As the deputy attorney general has requested three weeks to submit a reply on the status of Raymond Davis, the case is adjourned until 14 March," news agency AFP quoted Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Mohammad Chaudhry as saying.

On February 18th a Pakistani judge ordered the arrest of the driver of the vehicle which ran over and killed Obaidur Rahman. Authorities in Punjab said they sent five letters to the U.S. Embassy asking that the driver and vehicle be handed over, but reportedly received no response.

On February 19th, American television carried news that Davis' colleague, the driver who ran over and crushed Pakistani citizen Mr. Rehman to death and sped away without stopping, had safely reached America.

On February 20th a Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report has referred to Pakistan's ISI stating that top-secret CIA documents found in Davis's possession point to him and/or TF373 (Task Force 373) providing al Qaeda terrorists with "nuclear fissile material" and "biological agents". According to the report, the combat skills exhibited by Davis, along with documentation taken from him after his arrest, prove that he is a member of US TF373 black operations unit currently operating in the Afghan War Theatre and Pakistan's tribal areas.

On February 21st the US administration admitted that Davis was a CIA operative following the publication of this fact in the British newspaper The Guardian. A number of US media outlets followed and admitted that they had also learned about Davis's CIA role but had kept quiet at the request of the Obama administration. "We knew early on" said Dean Baquet of the New York Times.Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald has criticised this complicity with the US government in concealing information: "It's one thing for a newspaper to withhold information because they believe its disclosure would endanger lives," Greenwald wrote. "But here, the U.S. Government has spent weeks making public statements that were misleading in the extreme — Obama's calling Davis 'our diplomat in Pakistan' — while the NYT deliberately concealed facts undermining those government claims because government officials told them to do so. That's called being an active enabler of government propaganda."

On Feb 22nd it was reported that Davis broke into tears and was sobbing on Sunday after after US Consul General in Lahore, Carmella Conroy, visited him in jail. “The American killer was visibly tense in the first indication that he has started to realise the chances of getting away with the dual murder, despite huffing and puffing at the highest level, are getting thin by the day”, sources said. “He seems to have realised the new situation as his cover has been blown”.

On February 23rd, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke to the Pakistani National Assembly to reiterate that the issue of Raymond Davis was mishandled. And while he stopped short of naming anyone, he said he knew who had mishandled it.

On Friday February 25th the murder trial of Davis started. The press and public were excluded from the hearing in Kot Lakhpat jail. He refused to sign the challan (case papers) when they were presented to him, and instead submitted an official letter from the US embassy and said: “According to this letter, I enjoy complete immunity under the Vienna conventions and my detention in jail as well as this trial is illegal.” As no lawyer appeared in the court on behalf of the accused, the judge asked him to engage an attorney for his defence. The judge adjourned the hearing till March 3rd.

A senior official of US Consulate has said that proceeding of Raymond Davis case is not under jurisdiction of Pakistani courts, and that the US may take the proceedings of this case to International Court of Law. US Consul General had a meeting with Raymond Davis in Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore.

See also

Blackwater logo, before the October 2007 name change

• Central Intelligence Agency (WP)
• Wikipedia:Raymond Allen Davies incident
• Blackwater Watch (now Xe Watch) Watchdog organization
• Blackwater Worldwide
• Wikipedia:Xe Services
• Wikipedia:Pakistan – United States relations
• Wikipedia:Gueorgui Makharadze
• Wikipedia:Yvonne Fletcher
• Task Force 373 (WP)

External links

• Raymond Davis: Our man in Pakistan, Glenn Kessler, The Fact Checker, at The Washington Post, February 18, 2011
• American Held in Pakistan Worked With C.I.A., Mark Mazzetti, Ashley Parker, Jane Perlez and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times, February 21, 2011
• American Raymond Davis' police interview after shooting two Pakistanis dead, The Daily Telegraph (UK), 10 February 2011
• Who is Raymond Davis?, cryptome.org
• The Lahore Police report that was submitted to the court, Daily Times (Pakistan), February 15, 2011
• video at tubaah.com, NDTV

References

pnb:ریمنڈ ڈیوس